Quantifying long-range correlations in complex networks beyond nearest neighbors

We propose a fluctuation analysis to quantify spatial correlations in complex networks. The approach considers the sequences of degrees along shortest paths in the networks and quantifies the fluctuations in analogy to time series. In this work, the Barabasi-Albert (BA) model, the Cayley tree at the percolation transition, a fractal network model, and examples of real-world networks are studied. While the fluctuation functions for the BA model show exponential decay, in the case of the Cayley tree and the fractal network model the fluctuation functions display a power-law behavior. The fractal network model comprises long-range anti-correlations. The results suggest that the fluctuation exponent provides complementary information to the fractal dimension

The relative efficacy of price announcements and express communication for collusion: experimental findings

This study conducts experiments to determine the modes of communication that are able to produce and sustain collusion and how the efficacy of communication de- pends on market structure. Two communication treatments are considered: non-binding price announcements and unrestricted written communication. We find that price an- nouncements are conducive to coordinating on a high price but only under duopoly and when firms are symmetric. The standard experimental finding that collusion without com- munication is rare when there are more than two firms is shown to be robust to allowing firms to make price announcements. When firms are asymmetric, price announcements do result in higher prices but there is little evidence that firms are coordinating their behavior. When firms are allowed to engage in unrestricted written communication, co- ordination on high prices occurs for all market structures. We find that the incremental value to express communication (compared to price announcements) is greater when firms are asymmetric and there are more firms

Occurrence of normal and anomalous diffusion in polygonal billiard channels

From extensive numerical simulations, we find that periodic polygonal billiard channels with angles which are irrational multiples of pi generically exhibit normal diffusion (linear growth of the mean squared displacement) when they have a finite horizon, i.e. when no particle can travel arbitrarily far without colliding. For the infinite horizon case we present numerical tests showing that the mean squared displacement instead grows asymptotically as t log t. When the unit cell contains accessible parallel scatterers, however, we always find anomalous super-diffusion, i.e. power-law growth with an exponent larger than 1. This behavior cannot be accounted for quantitatively by a simple continuous-time random walk model. Instead, we argue that anomalous diffusion correlates with the existence of families of propagating periodic orbits. Finally we show that when a configuration with parallel scatterers is approached there is a crossover from normal to anomalous diffusion, with the diffusion coefficient exhibiting a power-law divergence.Comment: 9 pages, 15 figures. Revised after referee reports: redrawn figures, additional comments. Some higher quality figures available at http://www.fis.unam.mx/~dsander

The Infrared Database of Extragalactic Observables from Spitzer I: the redshift catalog

This is the first of a series of papers on the Infrared Database of Extragalactic Observables from Spitzer (IDEOS). In this work we describe the identification of optical counterparts of the infrared sources detected in Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) observations, and the acquisition and validation of redshifts. The IDEOS sample includes all the spectra from the Cornell Atlas of Spitzer/IRS Sources (CASSIS) of galaxies beyond the Local Group. Optical counterparts were identified from correlation of the extraction coordinates with the NASA Extragalactic Database (NED). To confirm the optical association and validate NED redshifts, we measure redshifts with unprecedented accuracy on the IRS spectra ({\sigma}(dz/(1+z))=0.0011) by using an improved version of the maximum combined pseudo-likelihood method (MCPL). We perform a multi-stage verification of redshifts that considers alternate NED redshifts, the MCPL redshift, and visual inspection of the IRS spectrum. The statistics is as follows: the IDEOS sample contains 3361 galaxies at redshift 0<z<6.42 (mean: 0.48, median: 0.14). We confirm the default NED redshift for 2429 sources and identify 124 with incorrect NED redshifts. We obtain IRS-based redshifts for 568 IDEOS sources without optical spectroscopic redshifts, including 228 with no previous redshift measurements. We provide the entire IDEOS redshift catalog in machine-readable formats. The catalog condenses our compilation and verification effort, and includes our final evaluation on the most likely redshift for each source, its origin, and reliability estimates.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Full redshift table in machine-readable format available at http://ideos.astro.cornell.edu/redshifts.htm

Gauge invariance of parametrized systems and path integral quantization

Gauge invariance of systems whose Hamilton-Jacobi equation is separable is improved by adding surface terms to the action fuctional. The general form of these terms is given for some complete solutions of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation. The procedure is applied to the relativistic particle and toy universes, which are quantized by imposing canonical gauge conditions in the path integral; in the case of empty models, we first quantize the parametrized system called ``ideal clock'', and then we examine the possibility of obtaining the amplitude for the minisuperspaces by matching them with the ideal clock. The relation existing between the geometrical properties of the constraint surface and the variables identifying the quantum states in the path integral is discussed.Comment: 23 page

Trust and trustworthiness under information asymmetry and ambiguity

We introduce uncertainty and ambiguity in the standard investment game. In the uncertainty treatment, investors are informed that the return of the investment is drawn from a publicly known distribution function. In the ambiguity treatment, investors are not informed about the distribution function. We find that both trust and trustworthiness are robust to the introduction of these changes

Information asymmetry and deception

Situations such as an entrepreneur overstating a project’s value, or a superior choosing to under or overstate the gains from a project to a subordinate are common and may result in acts of deception. In this paper we modify the standard investment game in the economics literature to study the nature of deception. In this game a trustor (investor) can send a given amount of money to a trustee (or investee). The amount received is multiplied by a certain amount, k, and the investee then decides on how to divide the total amount received. In our modified game the information on the multiplier, k, is known only to the investee and she can send a nonbinding message to the investor regarding its value. We find that 66% of the investees send false messages with both under and over, statement being observed. Investors are naive and almost half of them believe the message received. We find greater lying when the distribution of the multiplier is unknown by the investors than when they know the distribution. Further, messages make beliefs about the multiplier more pessimistic when the investors know the distribution of the multiplier, while the opposite is true when they do not know the distribution

The effect of earned versus house money on price bubble formation in experimental asset markets

Does house money exacerbate price bubbles? We compare house money asset market experiments with an earned money treatment where initial portfolios are constructed from a real effort task. Bubbles occur; however, trading volumes and earnings dispersion are significantly higher with house money. We investigate the role of cognitive ability in accounting for the differences in earnings distribution across treatments by using the cognitive reflection test (CRT). Low CRT subjects earned less than high CRT subjects. Low CRT subjects were net purchasers (sellers) of shares when the price was above (below) fundamental value. The opposite was true for high CRT subjects